MAD MEAT GENIUS

Barbeque

Monday, May 31, 2010

It was a beautiful day to have a bbq competition in Redding California. Local restaurants brought out their game faces and smokers to compete against local backyard cookers. This gladiator style event was called 'Pros & Joes'. There were many different types of grills and smokers, from custom Klose pits to 50 gallon metal drums. Many of the residents of Redding came out to witness this cooking match. The public went from booth to booth tasting this delicious food, After the populace had their fill they would vote for their favorite to determine the "Peoples Choice' award.

These Joes were very proud of the home made signs and aprons their children had made.

The teams were competing against each other in three categories. Tri-tip, chicken and ribs would be cooked and turned into the Judges. Ms. Goofy and I were privileged to be on the celebrity team of judges. The Mayor, Chief of Police, Fire Captain, local television personalities, KCBS certified judges and yours truly made up this infamous squad of judges. We had a tough job to decide which was the best food. After great personnel sacrifice we determined winners.

This was a pre-Judging meeting. The gentleman holding the placard is the head Judge John Reit.

This was a first time event for Pros & Joes. It was a success judging by the number of smiling people in the crowd. Everybody left full and satisfied. Congratulations to the Winners.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Thursday, May 27, 2010

We have put on our KCBS shirts and polished our badges. It is off to Redding Califronia to judge the "Pros & Joes" BBQ Grilldown. This is a first time event that will match amateur competitors versus local restaurants. It will be held in the downtown area a few block from my favorite steakhouse, in Redding, Jacks. These contestants will be cooking tri-tip, chicken and ribs. A small ten dollar fee will allow you to try these warriors barbequed meat delights. It should be a fun day. Hope to see you there!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

After the last Bacon Revue we needed to bring a more traditional, less scary, act to the stage. Tonight we are showcasing Bud’s bacon from Penngrove California. Bud’s is a local butcher shop which has a menagerie of meats to sell. They have all the traditional proteins but adds a herd of exotic meats to the lockers. Wild Boar, Bear, Venison, Ostrich and Buffalo are just a couple of meats Buds keeps on stock. This meat market is located down a rural road and is surrounded by pasture and cattle grazing. This was not our first visit to Buds Custom Meats. We are confident that tonight’s act will entertain.

The first thing that stood about this slab was that the rind was on. Now having the rind on is not an evil or bad thing. Some wild and crazy people actually prefer the rind on. Rind is not welcome in the Mad Meat Genius kitchen. It was dispatched immediately. The meat to fat ratio was fairly even. We did not notice any smoke smell. The belly was sliced and fried on our trusty black iron. It crisped up very nicely.

The ingredients listed on the package included Maple sugar. We did not experience a maple sugar flavor. Even though we did not taste the maple it did have a nice balance between the sugar and salt. The texture was spot on, chewy crunchy, the way bacon should be. The bacon did have a nice meaty pork flavor. Unfortunately we did not taste any trace of smoke. This bacon is an honorable and nice commodity. It just does not have the pizazz we are searching for. Buds bacon is a very decent pork product. The smoke seemed to be missing and the maple sugar might have been present but was at the back of the stage. Tonight’s act will receive 3 stars out of 5.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Welcome to the 'Bacon Revue'. Tonight on stage we have a scary spectacular horror show to thrill and delight. Do not be afraid but we have Turkey bacon to entertain or spook us. There is a method to my madness to showcase this so called bacon. This Turkey bacon is made by 'Willie Bird" from Sonoma California. Willie bird sell premium turkeys and runs a restaurant in Santa Rosa. This is a fantabulous place to have a good old fashioned turkey dinner. There birds are one tasty treat, so their bacon is getting a free pass to this show.

Willie Bird's smoked turkey bacon is made from cured turkey thigh meat. It is cut and formed into shapes that resemble bacon strips. Smoke flavor is added. It is fully cooked and ready to eat. It is suggested to heat and serve. We did just that. We broke out our trusty black iron and put the fire to it. The bacon started to fall apart. It never did crisp up. I would suggest using a little oil in the pan to prevent sticking.

The bacon was tasted before we heated it. The first taste sensation was sweetness with a little smoke added. Ir was not too salty. It had a good flavor in a cold cut sort of way. This would make for a tasty sandwich. Once heat was added to the mix the bacon transformed from palatable deli meat to tire rubber. The heat triggered a chemical reaction to make this meat into an unappetizing piece of flubber. Needless to say it did not look like bacon. It did not taste like bacon. Why do they call it bacon?

If this product was called Willy Bird Deli meat, We would have rated this product fairly well. They have chosen to call it bacon. This is not bacon, and should not be fried or even treated like bacon. Willy Bird Smoked Turkey Bacon will receive 1 star out of 5. Stick to the Turkeys or their restaurant.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Oh, I get by with a little help from my friendsMm, I get high with a little help from my friendsMm, Gonna try with a little help from my friends

The chorus of this 1967 Beatle's song "A Little Help From my Friends" has been stuck in my head for the last week. Ms. Goofy, Mojo and I lost our best friend Mojo. It has been a long hard week. The outpouring of Love and Support from family and friends has been remarkable. This has gotten us through this dark time.

Carol from Kansas City Missouri, a Mad Meat Genius reader, and I work for the same company. We have met several times and correspond occasionally. She wrote me and said she was going to send us some barbeque sauce from Kansas City. Well Carol put together a package of 15 unique and different barbeque sauces from the Kansas City area. She dispatched them to a cross country 18 wheeler sleeper team which was driven by a friend named MaryBeth. Just like that I have a bevy of sauces to try. You should see the smile on my face. WOW! Carol ,Thankyou!

My Mother and Sister (The President of Cookies) have all ways been there for us. Cookiecrumb who is not really"I'm Mad and I Eat" wrote a sweet tribute. Kailyn, Zoomie, Zia, Greg, Reverend Biggles, Chris, higlandsranchfoodie, fastgrowtheweeds, liteluvr, namastenancy, the pragmatic chef, WhiteTrashBBQ, Greg and so many more that send cards and e-mails Thankyou.

There will allways be a spot in our heart for Mojo. He was so goofy and wonderful. We are getting by with a little help from our friends. I want to leave you with Joe Cocker singing this song. In the 70's I experienced his concert at Winterland. He must have eaten something bad because he threw up in the middle of his performance. He did not miss a beat.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Food can have a magical soothing calming effect. Certain dishes will even bring you comfort. There is something about the familiarity and flavor that releases endorphins. Endorphins can act as a natural pain reliever. We need some comfort and pain relief. What better than to fire up the smoker and cook some marinated beef ribs from Willow Glen. This will be accompanied by some Mac & Cheese.

This macaroni and cheese will have 4 different types of cheese. Cooked elbow noodles will be bathed in a cream and cheese sauce and then topped with bread crumbs. This gooey mess will be baked in a 325 degree oven until over the top delicious.

Chilebrown's Mac & Cheese

8 ounces of elbow noodles

1 cup bread crumbs

4 ounces grated cheddar cheese

4 ounces processed American Cheese Cut into cubes (We like this stuff)

4 ounces blue cheese crumbled

2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper

1 1/2 cup of heavy cream or milk

2 garlic cloves minced

1/4 onion minced

2 tablespoons butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon Chile powder (optional)

Cook your noodles as packages directs but cook 2 minutes less. Drain and reserve. Take a saute pan and melt your butter. Saute garlic and onions for aprox 5 minutes or until translucent. Add 1 tablespoon flour and cook for 2 minutes. Add cream and simmer until cream thickens slightly. Season with salt and pepper. Add all cheeses except Parmesan and melt. Combine noodles and cheese mixture and stir. Place this mixture in a buttered baking dish. Top with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle chile powder over top. (Optional). Bake at 325 degree oven until bubbly and top is brown. (aprox 25 minutes).

The ribs were falling off the bone good. The macaroni and cheese embraced us into a stranglehold of comfort. These two dishes worked their magic wonderfully.

Friday, May 14, 2010

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Julia Child the grand dame of cooking, now will be a tomato in my garden. She will be respected, nurtured and coddled. In return she will produce large, deep pink, beefsteak tomatoes with a remarkable flavor. This will be the first time we have grown this variety of tomato. How could I refuse. In a couple of months we will be having Bacon, Lettuce and Julia Child Tomato sandwiches. I cannot wait.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Bacon and Hot Sauce are my two favorite food groups. What if you combine them together and make Bacon Hot Sauce. You may say "this is the greatest forward step in the food industry since bread was wrapped." Yes the day is here and we are going to give it a try.

The ingredients are the usual suspects of cayenne, new mexico chili, vinegar, salt and a whole bunch more. There was one ingredient that seemed to be missing. Where's the bacon? There was a mystery ingredient called 'natural flavor'. I have my fingers crossed.

The sauce does smell like bacon. We poured a little taste and surprisingly it had a bacon flavor. The heat level was a couple of notches above mild. It had just a little pepper kick to warm your mouth. We tried this with a fried egg. This sauce worked perfectly with the egg. It warmed our breakfast meal. We liked this sauce. Would I use this as a bacon substitute? Of course not. We will enjoy this sauce while it lasts.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

The sweet smell of barbeque smoke permeated the town of Morgan Hill California yesterday. It was a gathering of 'Meat Warriors' to compete in the "First Annual Morgan Hill No Bull BBQ Cook-off" that created this haze of cooking aroma. Fifty two teams shared the grounds of the Morgan Hill Community Center to cook their finest meat samples for entry to this contest. It was a colorful sight. Barbeque rigs of all shapes and sizes were cooking away. These smokers were cooking four different types of meat. Chicken, Pork Ribs, Pork Shoulder and Beef Brisket were the meat categories that would be judged by certified 'Kansas City Barbecue Society' judges. It just so happens Ms. Goofy and I are judges. We were in hog heaven today.

The teams are hard at work preparing the meat for cooking. This is a great learning experience to watch the different techniques and methods of competition cooking. The teams arrive the day before to set up. They have been cooking brisket and pork shoulder throughout the night. A few teams have probably stayed up all night to nurse their meat and adult beverages.

Each cooking group has a team name and some are pretty clever. They may have also decorated their cooking area with wacky and fun decorations. It all adds up to a festive occasion. This festival has also brought out a recently discovered television celebrity. It is Harry Soo from 'Barbeque Pittmasters' that is receiving all the attention. He is the backbone of the 'Slap Yo Daddy BBQ' team. Watching him prepare his food is a demonstration in concentration.

It is almost 11:00 am and it is time to gather in the judges meeting area. The first turn in is chicken. This will be followed every half hour with turn ins of the 4 different meat categories. We will taste some spectacular meat.We take our judging responsibilities very serious, but it is so very fun and tasty. The KCBS has a strict set of rules to follow while judging. We score each entry appropriately. We have no idea which team's meat we are tasting because it is a blind taste. The scores are tallied and the winners will be announced later.

There were a couple of celebrity judges present today. On the left is the infamous Dr. Biggles from Meathenge. On the right, Scott Gomes a bbq champion celebrity and organizer of the "Penn Valley Cook-Off that will be held in a couple of weeks. The "Morgan Hill No Bull Cook-Off' was a great event. Harry Soo was victorious and won Grand Champion. This was our first official 'KCBS' BBQ event of the season. We have a full summer of more fun!

Thursday, May 6, 2010

This Saturday we are loading up the 'Magical BBQ Bus of Love'. Ms. Goofy is driving. Chilebrown and Dr. Biggles will be clowning and stealing each others cooking techniques. This is a journey down to Morgan Hill California for the 'No Bull BBQ Cook-Off'. We are on a mission to judge our first official KCBS barbeque competition of the year. This is the first, sanctioned KCBS barbeque event for Morgan Hill and we are privileged to participate. Harry Soo, a celebrity from the TV show 'BBQ Pitmasters' will be competing. Ten dollars will buy you an opportunity to try all this competition que. This will be an event to experience! We will report back with photo's and barbeque lore. Hope you can make it!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Buffalo wings are a staple food at the Chilebrown household. There are so many variations and techniques to prepare this simple dish. There is a common theme involved in this preparation. Butter and hot sauce are the similarities in our numerous wing dishes. Today we are using two sauces from ‘Benito’s Hot Sauces’. Benito’s makes wonderful hot sauces using organic ingredients and no salt. We have ‘Old Bricktucky Cayenne and Mango Habanero’. We will rub some chicken wings with some ‘Survival Spice’ and grill them over a medium hot mesquite fire. They will then take a bath in some butter and hot sauce. Simple, but delicious!

Benito’s Mango Habanero has been described as a ‘tropical garden in your mouth’. This sauce has Mangos, habaneros, vegetables and lime juice. This sauce is sweet with Mango flavor and only has a medium pepper bite despite the habanero peppers. Benito has the skills to combine just the right amount of ingredients with lime juice. No salt is in this sauce. The same goes for the Bricktucky Cayenne. This sauce is very complex. There is a lot of flavor going on here. Cinnamon, Cayenne, vinegar, tomatoes, paprika and vinegar are some of the ingredients. The heat level on this sauce is going a small notch over the medium level. This sauce will be perfect for our wings.

The wings were cooked and then dipped in the two butter and sauce combinations. The Mango Habanero wings were on the sweet side. The flavor was of mango and onions with a warming effect from the habanero peppers. The butter made these flavors rich and decadent. The Bricktucky was my favorite. This sauce was finger licking good. There were so many components that jumped all over your taste buds. Cayenne pepper warmed your tongue while a hint of cinnamon grabbed your curiosity. It was like I could taste the tomato’s and onions separately but they melted with all the other ingredients. When this sauce was applied to the smoky wings, a marriage in Heaven was created.

Benito’s makes a lot of wonderful sauces. They are a welcome addition to our pantry. Chicken wings are just one of the uses for these sauces. We served our wings on a plate with extra dipping hot sauce. Some carrots, celery and blue cheese dressing accompanied these chicken appendages. We served a side dish of Asparagus, fava bean and pasta. It was a perfect spring day.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Today, May 3 1933 James Joseph Brown was born. Little to be known this child would grow up to be the “Godfather of Soul”. James Brown would become one of the most influential, singer, dancer, bandleader and song writer for generations to come. He has touched and influenced numerous lives including my own with his music and performances. Today we are celebrating his birthday. “Soul Brother Number One, Sex Machine, Mr. Please Please Please, and The Hardest Working Man in Show Business” crossed the boundaries of race and music. He could lay down the funkiest rift and come back with a pop hit. Rap musicians have sampled his work extensively. When you listen to his music, a feeling will take over your body. You will jump up and get down with the "Good Foot".

I did not really start listening to James Brown till the late seventies. I was hooked and saw him over a dozen times throughout the years. His performances stirred a passion in your soul. You could not help but want to dance and groove with the beat of his band. James Brown did it all. He danced and sang all the while keeping his big band tight. He was not the perfect role model. He had his personnel demons and occasional trouble with the law. This just added to the legend. In the 60’s he tried to help the inner city population with his James Brown ‘Black & Brown” trading stamps. In Oakland California certain corner groceries would give these stamps the same as ‘blue chip stamps’. You could trade them in for merchandise.

Today let’s celebrate James Brown's birthday. Play some JB and get your funk on. ‘KPFA 94.1’, Berkeley Ca. (8-10 pm Pacific Coast Time) will be playing a two hour tribute to James Brown. You can listen to it by streaming (Right Here!).

Saturday, May 1, 2010

A clean grill is very important to successful grilling. Cleaning your grill at the start and end of your cooking session should be part of your barbeque routine. I have used all sorts of tools to clean the grates. Aluminum foil, wire brushes, paint scrapers,screw drivers and even sand paper. They have all worked with various degrees of success. Today we have been gifted the 'Grill Daddy" for demonstration and review. This is a unique looking and 'Revolutionary Grill Cleaning Tool'. This brush has a reservoir to hold water. While you are scraping the grill you turn on the valve and water will drip onto the brush. A hot grill will create steam from the dripping waster. Steam cleaning the grill is a fantastic idea. Let's see if it works.

It has been raining pretty steady this Spring. There has been a lot of moisture in the air and this has created a thin layer of rust on the Mad Meat Genius grill grate. I have broken my own rule of not cleaning the grill after cooking. A coating of oil would have prevented this rust. No worries, because we have the Grill Daddy to steam clean the funk away. The Grill Daddy has a simple and brilliant design. We filled the water reservoir and made sure the valve was closed. A fire was built and the grate was put in place.

Ms. Goofy volunteered to do the demonstration. The Grill Daddy worked as advertised. The water created steam and with the steel brush the grease and rust was cleaned right away. Ms. Goofy said it was easy to use and thought it was kind of fun. In fact, I think she is going to clean the other 9 grills later because it was so easy. (I do have an imagination) The brush on the Grill Daddy is removable in case you need to replace it. There are two models of the Grill Daddy. We demonstrated the 'Pro" model. It is a little larger than the regular. This is a great tool for the Barbeque enthusiast. It will clean your grill we ease. I just have to remember to oil the grate afterwards. This would make a great Fathers Day gift. The Grill Daddy will receive the Mad Meat Genius seal of Approval!

Mad Meat Genius

HELLO MEAT FANATICS

Chilebrown is my name. Ms. Goofy is my Beautiful Wife. Lucy is our Golden Retriever Lap Dog. I grow a lot of vegetables and peppers. On the weekends Ms. Goofy and I frequent Farmers Markets. On our vacations. we go on "Meat Adventures". My hobbies revolve around food.I would like to share some of my recipes and cooking with you. There will be a lot of posts on barbequing. Ms. Goofy and I are certified 'Kansas City Barbecue Society Master Judges. We would like to share our experiences. I will guide you through my garden. I hope to have a lot of fun with you readers. There will be no politics, religion, and or rants. Well maybe a couple of little rants.Hope to see you soon.